Sailing Into Walpole’s Marsh reel

I learnt this from an Anglo concertina player in Cambridge UK, and this is based on his setting. Bar 4 differs slightly from settings on other tune indexes - I liked the way he went up to high “g” so I copied it!

In this setting and Norbeck’s, the first bar of the 1st part 2nd time thru’ is different, and that “c” is usually played with an appropriate melodramatic chord of C major for whatever instrument you play.

There’s something a little bit odd about this tune which is why I like it. I think it’s to do with bar 5…

Sometimes it’s listed in indexes as Ador and sometimes as Dmix. This is because it’s possible to back using both modes, depending on what order the chords come in. I think it’s better treated as Ador but that’s just my opinion.

If memory serves me correctly, there’s a recording of this on the classic Paul Brady/Andy Irvine collaboration album.

Most of the album is songs with just a few tunes interspersed. I don’t have the track listing to hand, but I believe that this tune was played together with Fred Finn’s:

https://thesession.org/tunes/452

And Michael McGoldrick and Eamonn Coyne, a banjo player from Dublin, recently recorded this tune. The liner notes of the recording (Through the Round Window) says the same thing as Jeremy.
Anyway, thanks Dow for a cool tune. I have to learn it in the near future.

Backing in Dmix would give a nice drone effect - if you like that sort of thing. I think a D-based chord is obligatory to end the B-part.

…then again, a G would sound good.

That’s why I love tunes like this. You could even back differently each time thru’…

Yes Jeremy. This tune is played with Fred Finn’s on the Andy Irvine/ Paul Brady album.

There’s an excellent recording called “Sailing into Walpole’s Marsh” with this very tune on it , with the great fiddler Maeve Donnelly (and others) who recently released a solo CD that I’ve been listening to alot these days……Worth checking out.

v popular round Cambridge, it seems..

There’s a nice witty intro from Swarb on his Live at Jackson’s Lane CD:

“This one’s called ‘Sailing into Walpole’s Marsh’ - with a name that good, you don’t really even need to play it!”

T:Sailng into walpole’s marsh
M:4/4
S:Eamonn Cotter - Traditional Irish Music from County Clare
R:reel
Z:gian marco pietrasanta
K:ADor
A3A~A2cA|G2EA GED2|EAA^G ABcd|egdB cedc|
AG~G2 A2GA|GEDE G2EG|A2A^G ABcd|1egdB cedc:|egdB cAA2|:
eg~g2 e2af|gedB cA~A2|eg~g2 ea~a2|age^c dafd|
~g3^g a2fa|gedB cAAG|c2Gc AcGc|1eage d2z2:|2eage d2dB|



% Output from ABC2Win 2.2 11/01/2009

Cracking tune

Great tune, yes. But is there a Walpole’s Marsh? Where/what is Walpole’s Marsh. What does the name signify?
Sailing into Walpole’s Marsh. Canada? Lousiana? Somewhere in the UK?
Thanks….

https://thesession.org/discussions/24412

Watch Seán Ó Broin play the reel: http://pipers.ie/source/media/?mediaId=24183

Here’s a fairly simplified setting, ripe for embellishment.

A (simplified) transcription based mostly on the Andy Irvine & Paul Brady album.

i play this on guitar using drop D and hit the bass string from time to time to create a drone - i hear the tune in D, probably inspired by the Brady/Irvine version, but most people prefer to back it with Aminor chords. Oh well. Still no clue about the origin of the title……………..

Here’s Sailing Into Walpole’s Marsh on mandolin (based on X:1):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-599EkOYrQ

play video